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The Sharing Economy the Future of Jobs and PostCapitalism

Marxist Analysis · 2026-05-13

Core Argument

The article argues that the so-called "sharing economy" and "on-demand economy" represent not a progressive new phase of capitalism, but rather a symptom of its senile decay. Far from heralding a post-capitalist future, these business models are simply the conversion of personal property into private capital, the rebranding of wage labour as "self-employment," and the expansion of parasitic rentier capitalism. The central claim is that the technological potential for genuine abundance and rational allocation of resources exists, but is systematically blocked by the property relations and profit motive of a system in crisis. The article directly challenges both libertarian capitalist celebrations of the "gig economy" and Paul Mason's reformist "postcapitalism" thesis, insisting that only a revolutionary break with capitalism — not regulation, boycotts, or "networked individuals" — can realise the potential these technologies contain.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis is firmly rooted in Marx's critique of political economy, deploying several key concepts:

  • Commodity production and exchange: The article insists that "sharing" under capitalism is simply commodity exchange rebranded — money for goods and services, with private ownership intact.
  • Surplus value and its distribution: It distinguishes between productive capital (which creates new value through exploitation of labour) and rentier capital (which merely redistributes already-created surplus value). The sharing economy companies are identified as parasitic intermediaries taking a cut of rents, not creators of new value.
  • The tendency toward concentration and centralisation: The article shows how "small is beautiful" rhetoric masks the reality that sharing economy firms must establish monopoly positions before they can become profitable, and that start-ups are inevitably swallowed by larger capitals.
  • The contradiction between forces and relations of production: Drawing on Marx's Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, the article argues that information technology has brought this contradiction to an extreme point — the productive forces (zero-marginal-cost reproduction of digital goods) directly conflict with the property relations (private ownership, production for profit).
  • The reserve army of labour: The swelling ranks of the precariat are explained as a consequence of capitalist crisis and technological unemployment, not as a new "entrepreneurial" layer.

The article positions itself within the Marxist tradition's critique of reformism, directly engaging Lenin's State and Revolution to argue that the capitalist state cannot be used to gradually transition beyond capitalism. It also draws on Engels' Socialism: Utopian and Scientific to distinguish genuine socialism from utopian experiments.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article was written in October 2015, seven years after the 2008 global financial crisis, and directly connects the rise of the sharing economy to that conjuncture:

  • Mass unemployment and precarious labour: The article cites US Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing 9.7 million unemployed Americans and 7.5 million working part-time involuntarily. The on-demand economy is presented as feeding on this reserve army of labour.
  • Overaccumulation and fictitious capital: Investors are pouring billions into Uber ($1.5bn raised), Airbnb ($8bn raised), and other sharing economy firms that have not yet turned a profit. The article identifies this as a symptom of overproduction — idle money seeking speculative outlets because profitable investment in real production is blocked.
  • The dotcom bubble parallel: The article explicitly compares the current tech bubble to the dotcom crash, noting that Pinterest, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Instagram were valued at $11bn, $19bn, $20bn, and $35bn respectively with no source of income.
  • Inequality: Oxfam figures are cited showing the richest 1% were predicted to own as much wealth as the rest of the world combined by end of 2015.
  • Housing crisis: Airbnb is shown to exacerbate housing shortages by converting long-term rentals into short-term holiday lets, with 50% of its New York revenue coming from landlords with multiple listings.

The article also engages with the contemporary political landscape: the rise of Corbyn in Britain, Podemos in Spain, Sanders in the US, and the Greek OXI referendum are all referenced as evidence that spontaneous "networked" movements are transforming into organised political forces.

Where the Argument Continues

The article leaves several threads open for further development:

  • The question of workers' organisation in the gig economy: The article notes early attempts to unionise Uber drivers and the formation of freelancers' unions, but does not develop a concrete strategy for organising atomised, app-mediated workers. This is taken up in subsequent IDOM articles on platform capitalism and the logistics sector.
  • The relationship between automation and class struggle: While the article discusses technological unemployment, it does not fully develop the Marxist analysis of how automation intensifies the tendency of the rate of profit to fall — a theme explored in other IDOM pieces on robotics and AI.
  • The state and revolution: The critique of Mason's reformism is sharp but brief. The article points toward Lenin's State and Revolution without fully elaborating the Marxist theory of the state in the context of 21st-century capitalism. This is developed in IDOM's series on the state and in Against the Stream episodes on revolutionary strategy.
  • The concrete programme for nationalisation: The article calls for Uber and Airbnb to be nationalised and run as public services, but does not detail how this would be achieved in the context of a revolutionary transition — a question addressed in IDOM's transitional programme materials.

Connections

  • Paul Mason, PostCapitalism: The article engages extensively with Mason's book, praising its analysis of information technology's contradictions while critiquing its reformist conclusions and faith in "networked individuals" over the organised working class.
  • Karl Marx, Capital Volumes 1-3: The theoretical backbone, particularly the analysis of commodities, surplus value, rent, and the tendency toward concentration.
  • Marx and Engels, The German Ideology: Quoted on the division of labour and alienation.
  • Engels, Socialism: Utopian and Scientific: Quoted on the transition from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom.
  • Lenin, State and Revolution: Implicitly referenced in the critique of Mason's vague conception of the postcapitalist state.
  • Tom Slee, "The Sharing Economy" (Jacobin): Quoted on the rapid slide from collaborative sharing to precarious employment.
  • Anthony Kalamar, "Sharewashing is the new Greenwashing": Quoted on the concept of "sharewashing" — businesses hiding profiteering behind the mask of sharing.
  • David Graeber, "On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs": Referenced on the proliferation of socially useless jobs under capitalism.
  • Juliet Schor, "Debating the Sharing Economy" (The Great Transition): Quoted on the need to democratise platform ownership and governance.

Key Quotes

  1. "The great trick of the 'sharing' economy has been to change the name of things without changing the thing itself. Renting and wage labour — which have existed since the dawn of capitalism — have simply been rebranded as 'sharing'."

  2. "With the rise of the 'sharing' economy, therefore, we are seeing the rise of parasitic rent-seeking capitalism on a vast scale. The main 'revolution' of the 'sharing' economy has been to turn personal property into private property — that is, to turn the personal property of millions of ordinary people (homes, cars, etc.) into a source of profits for the capitalists."

  3. "In a climate of continuing high unemployment, however, [on-demand workers] are less micro-entrepreneurs than micro-earners. They often work seven-day weeks, trying to assemble a living wage from a series of one-off gigs."

  4. "An economy based on information, with its tendency to zero-cost products and weak property rights, cannot be a capitalist economy."

  5. "The fact that investors are piling money into the 'sharing' economy — a purely rentier economy — is yet another reflection of the enormous spectre of overproduction ('excess capacity') that is haunting the world economy."

  6. "Everywhere we look, our lives are dominated by monopolies; and it is these giant multinationals who currently make all the real decisions in society. The introduction of the internet, social media, and smart-phones has done nothing to change this. We may be more networked to one-another than ever, but the networks are still all owned and controlled by big business."